July 24, 1909.]
SHIPPING NOTES.
The H.-A.L.S. Nicomedia, which left Shanghai on April 21, arrived at Rotterdam last month under the command of the second officer, owing to the captain, first officer, and several of the crew being down with typhus. The captain and chief engineer have since died.
A third steamer of the Japan Volunteer Fleet, the Japan Gazette says, will be constructed in the near future either at the Mitsu Bishi
Yard or at the Kawasaki Yard. The Sakura- maru and Umegaka-maru of the Fleet are now actively engaged in the coasting service.
Telegrams from Osaka announce that the results obtained by the Osaka Shosen Kaisha during the half-year just ended were distinctly favourable, The Company employed 120 ships with a gross tonnage of 140,598, and its gross income was Y6,055,261, being Y124,040 greater than the income for the preceding term. The telegrams say nothing about dividend.
*
The first cargo from the Far East via the new Tehuantepec-Orient route arrived in New York on June I by the steamer Lewis Lucken- bach. The steamer Erroll, of the Mexican- Oriental Steamship Line, Ld., which inaugurated the new service, left Hongkong on April 8, and after calling at ports in Japan made a good passage to Salina Cruz, Mexico. Her cargo was promptly transhipped across the isthmus to Puerto Mexico and brought to New York by the connecting steamer of the American Hawai- ian Steamship Company. The time in transit through to New York was: From Hongkong. 53 days; from Kobe, 45 days; from Yokohama, 43 days. The cargo arrived in first class
condition.
Lloyd's Register has just issued new rules which make radical changes respecting the construction of steel ships. The society has a long experience to guide it, and has never yet been accused of rash experiments. The aim in the present case has been to take full cognisance of modern methods of construction, and, while encouraging a saving in weight in those parts of a ship where a reduction is warranted, to
CHINA OVERLAND TRADE REPORT.
་་
81
Dr. Okada, legal adviser of the Chinese Government, who returned to Tokyo on the representative, has made the following state- 3rd inst. on furlough, interviewed by a press ment:----
that a clause should be inserted to the effect | DR. OKADA ON THE CHINESE CODE. that it shall not be an offence for a person having an interest fully insured to effect a further insurance, seems to imply that the terms of the Bill are not as precise as they might be for, unless underwriters are prepared to advocate a real "revolution in the conduct of business, there is no question of abolishing the system of separate insurances on "disbursements" and freights." In connection with the subject of amendment, it may be useful to point out that any person be and " corporation
65
unless the words in the Bill taken to cover
<
company
++
+1
China is now busily engaged in the arrange- ment preparatory to the introduction of con- stitutional government. The Prince Regent is paying attention with great earnestness to the establishment of the new regime and the pro- there is nothing in the measure to prevent ship-investigation of the subject. The Prince Regent vincial governors, too, are eagerly taking to the ping companies, insurance companies, or even is also making a close investigation about the companies of adventurers from effecting gambl-unification monetary system. Of the latter sub- ing policies with impunity. This contingency ject Mr.Chien Cheng-Chih, of the Ministry of appears to have been overlooked at the Con- Finance, is in charge of the investigation ference at the Board of Trade, yet it is not work. I know nothing about the condition of without a precedent. Those who drafted the the making of the Chinese Imperial Constitu- Bill are framing a Criminal Act affecting a technical subject, to be translated according to its literal meaning, and, therefore, full weight attaches to every word that is passed.
SEAWORTHY OR UNSEAWORTHY.
The action of the British-Ameirican Tobacco Co., Ld., versus the Canadian Pacific Railway Co., which was tried before Mr. Justice Bourne and a jury on October 30, 1808, has, the N.-C. Daily News is informed, been settled in London. The case in dispute as shown in the pleadings was that in September, 1907, the plaintiffs, delivered to the defendants 300 cases of cigarettes which were shipped at Vancouver on board the R. M. S. Empress of China. Subsequently to the shipment, the Empress sank at her mooring, owing, it was claimed by plaintiffs, to unseaworthiness; and although she Was subsequently raised and pumped out the plaintiffs' goods were delivered in an unmarketable condition. Setting other questions on one side, the case turned largely
upon the allegation of unsea- worthiness which the defendants strenuously denied, claiming that the sinking of the China was due to neglect by one of the engineers in leaving open, or failing properly to close, the
|
tion, because I am not connected with the work. nected with, the criminal code has been already As regards the code compilation work I am con-
completed and those concerned are at present examining the opinious sent by the provincial governors. The judiciary law has also been completed and been submitted to the consider- ation of the constitution compilation committee, while the police regulations have already been promulgated and are in force. The criminal procedure code is in the course of drafting and procedure code
the commercial code and the civil aro also being drafted, the one by Dr. Shinda and the other by Mr. Matsuoka. The civil code is completion of the civil procedure law. The date to be drafted by Mr. Matsuoka on the of above laws coming into force was prefixed at next year, but it is likely to be postponed for my supervision are in the main based on the some time. Those several codes compiled under spirit of Japanese laws, but there exists some difference in their aspect betwixt the Chinese laws and Japanese. Particulars about these matters will be made public shortly.
Dr. Okada has brought back several thousands of old rare curios collected in China. Among them there are about a hundred small statues of gold and copper made in the period as old as the Sung, Chi, Liang, and Chen, and Sui and six dynasties (rikucho), namely, Wu, East Hain,
assure in general the best and most scientific apertures through which water entered the Tang down to the Ming dynasty. Some of them
engine room; and that for this neglect the distribution of material and perfect riveting, defendants were not liable, as they would have The new rules concern the public to the extent been if they had loaded the goods on an that they will in some degree facilitate ship-anseaworthy ship. It then became a question building. Cost of construction will be slightly whether the China had been seaworthy at the lessened, while at the same time there will be time that the lading of the cigarettes began, and some increase of carrying capacity, and all had become unseaworthy at some subsequent point consistent with safety.
of time during the loading. The extreme nicety remembered, the members of the jury were un- of the point needs no emphasis; and, as will be able to answer the material question which was put to them at the trial, and were thereupon discharged; and upon a subsequent motion for judgment made by the defendants, Mr. Justice Bourne declined to give judgment for either party upon such findings as were recorded by the jury. Applications for leave to appeal were subsequently made by both parties, and the plaintiff finally completed an appeal to the Privy Council for a new trial. As stated above the action has now been compromised upon terms satisfactory to the plaintiffs.
By his emphatic declaration at a banquet in Washington on the 23rd alt that something must be done immediately for the establishment of a merchant marine President Taft has put new hope into the breasts of the advocates of a ship subsidy. The dinner was given by the Merchant Marine League, which is promoting a Bill for altering the tonnage taxes in favour of American ships and for providing for the admission to the American registry of foreign- built steamers of over 5,000 gross tous wholly owned by Americans, these to be restricted to foreign trade and excluded from compensation for mail service. Mr. Taft promised to do all he could to help the cause.
*
In a letter on the Gambling Policies Bill printed in The Times last month the suggestion was made that a clause be inserted excluding from the effects of the measure insurances placed when a vessel is overdue, and presumably also when a ship is known to be in trouble. This proposal, The Times says, has met with a fair amount of support. It was put forward dis- interestedly, not on the ground of public utility, though it is perfectly reasonable to maintain that these speculative insurances fulfil a function in making a market for reinsurances proper; but on the basis that. as they scarcely leave a door open for conspiracy, and were not the cause of the Bill, they might have been left untouched. If, therefore, these transactions are made a criminal offence, it will be at the cost of some soreness, and dealers will no doubt find a means of evading the measure-a less satisfactory state of affairs than if they had been allowed some latitude.
The second suggestion, namely,
FOREIGN UNIVERSITIES IN CHINA
In view of the fact that several foreign countries are contemplating the establishment of universities in China for the education of Chinese youths the Board of Education intends to request the Ministers abroad to inform the Ministers of Education of the countries to special attention should be paid to the Chinese which they are respectively accredited that language in all universities and colleges they have opened or are about to open in Chins. Unless the students pass in Chinese both at the periodical and final examinations they will not be recognized as first class men no matter how well they might have done in the other subjects, and that before students admitted into those
are universities and colleges they should be first examined by the Board as to their knowledge of Chinese and character and then by the universities or colleges as to their knowledge of foreign languages, etc.-Shanghai Times.
found in this country.-Japan Times are of rare value, the like of which is seldom
AUTOMOBILES IN CHINA AND JAPAN.
Consul John H. Snodgrass, of Kobé, says Japan is unsuited for automobiles and carriages because of the narrowness of the city streets and the country roads, where the average track is only 33 ins. wide for jinrikishas; also because the driveways are limited to the cities, where the streets are continually filled with pedestrians and playing children, making it a hazardous undertaking to attempt driving a car through those sections. Besides, the Japanese do not take to automobiles. Until, therefore, there is a complete change in the construction of roadways and the widening of city streets, automobiles in Japan will be limited to a few enthusiasts of foreign proclivities. Furthermore, the tariff duty of 50 per cent. is almost prohibitive. Consul Roger S. Greene, of Dalny, believes that a motor-car business may by worked up in that part of China. Most of the roads in the city are now in good condition, having been newly macadamised. Outside of the city limits the roads are not suitable for motoring. Consul B. S. Rairden, of Batavia, states that within the last two years sales of motor cars have rapidly increased in Batavia. The agent for an American car company reports that he sold over 100 cars in twenty months. The machine he handles is a small one, selling for about $2,000. Minister Hamilton King, of Bangkok, reports that Siam offers one of the most promising fields for the development of a motor-car trade.
One of two Greek prisoners extradited from Singapore to Saigon jumped overboard when nearing Saigon and swam the river. A search was instituted and it was found he had taken refuge in a tree. Hunger, however, brought him down and he fell into the hands of the police.
•